Bad areas of Knoxville? (Memphis, Martin: motel, travel, housing)

[Va4lovers]

What are some areas that I need to detour?

[creeksitter]

I deliver food for FISH and have never felt uncomfortable in any areas in daylight. Just don't stop at the convenience stores. Do you drive a blingy car?

[mysticfire0213]

LOL--We were there a few weeks ago and there was a place we stopped at to use the restroom that I felt "uncomfortable" in---in daylight. It was THE only place I felt even remotely like that, but nonetheless....

I know it was closer to downtown, but I couldnt tell u exactly since we are not from there (yet!)

[JMT]

Originally Posted by mysticfire0213

LOL--We were there a few weeks ago and there was a place we stopped at to use the restroom that I felt "uncomfortable" in---in daylight. It was THE only place I felt even remotely like that, but nonetheless....

I know it was closer to downtown, but I couldnt tell u exactly since we are not from there (yet!)

I suspect it was east of downtown somewhere along Magnolia (US Hwy 70). When people refer to "bad" parts of Knoxville, they usually refer to Magnolia.

Having said that, I feel very comfortable there, indeed everywhere in Knoxville. Knoxville's bad neighborhoods are nothing like what you see in Atlanta or Memphis, or even Nashville. I suspect there is more property crime in East Knoxville than there is in tony West Knoxville, but I don't think it's rampant random crime.

And many of Knoxville's movers and shakers from downtown venture east onto Magnolia to have lunch at some of the fabulous locally-owned joints that serve good ol' homestyle cooking. It's definitely worth it.

[bbkaren]

I don't think Knoxville is a city where you actually have to "detour" (which implies you're just driving through) per se. I don't know that there are areas where hoodlums will literally swarm around your car, like you see in the movies or I guess you might see in New York City or somewhere like that.

If you're using the term figuratively i.e. you're planning to move to the area and want to avoid certain types of areas, then there are a couple, according to what I've read.

[NJDevil]

In a nutshell, for any town, the area around the Salvation Army is where the homeless hang out, and the area around a street called MLK is the "ghetto." I would not want to drive down MLK during the day, but that's just me. Part of it is the road conditions - too bumpy for my taste.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by NJDevil

In a nutshell, for any town, the area around the Salvation Army is where the homeless hang out, and the area around a street called MLK is the "ghetto." I would not want to drive down MLK during the day, but that's just me. Part of it is the road conditions - too bumpy for my taste.

The black comedian Chris Rock said pretty much the same thing once. When someone asked him what he's learned in all his travels around the US, he responded that he's learned you don't want to be on any street in America after dark if it's named after Martin Luther King Jr.

But in all seriousness, the street in Knoxville named for MLK is not that bad. There are a couple of public housing projects on it and some run-down homes, but compared to other cities it's really not that bad.

[creeksitter]

I drive past the SA on a regular basis and patronize the paint store nearby. No one has ever hassled me. One woman has a habit of crossing the street when she pleases regardless of traffic, that's the only thing to watch out for.

[mysticfire0213]

yeah, I guess this "foreigner" (lol) thinks of "bad neighboorhoods" in my terms, which is CERTAINY not knoxville--I live in Baltimore (not city though) and I cringe EVERYTIME I have to go into the city for something--still, there were a few areas driving through that we thought "this is just not our type of area"--but each persons idea of "questionable" is different also!

[tn_dreamin']

From what I saw of Knoxville when I visited the bad areas weren't that bad, of course I'm used to B-more too and I HATE going into Baltimore city, hate it. The other night I had to go to take my daughter to a concert and almost got into 3 accidents and some lady tried to hop in my car at a stop light.